Are there public records or IRS filings detailing restricted donations to America250 tied to events or exhibits?
Executive summary
Public, machine-readable copies of America250’s IRS Form 990 filings are available through ProPublica and the IRS, and IRS rules require nonprofits to report and account for restricted donations, but the public Form 990 generally discloses restricted contributions in aggregate rather than identifying individual restricted gifts tied to particular events or exhibits — the sources reviewed do not show line‑by‑line public records that tie named restricted donations specifically to America250 events or exhibits [1] [2] [3].
1. Public returns exist and are accessible
America250’s tax returns and Form 990 filings have been digitized and can be downloaded through public nonprofit databases and the IRS, with ProPublica reconstructing full filings from IRS raw data and the IRS providing electronic copies and XML data for returns it processes [1] [3] [4].
2. IRS requires reporting of restricted donations on Form 990
The IRS framework treats restricted donations as material for nonprofit accountability and expects nonprofits to report restricted revenues in their annual informational return, Form 990, so restricted gifts are reflected in organizational financial statements the IRS collects [2].
3. Form 990’s disclosures are aggregate and programmatic, not a shopping list
While Form 990 contains detailed financial line items, compensation, and program expense reporting, it typically categorizes contributions by source and by whether funds are unrestricted or restricted rather than listing each restricted gift and its exact programmatic destination in public, machine‑readable form — ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer emphasizes that Form 990 provides summary data and full filings but does not imply per‑gift, per‑event labeling in public extracts [1] [3].
4. Donor substantiation rules sit with the donor and private gift instruments can be binding
Tax rules require donors to retain contemporaneous written acknowledgments for deductible gifts of $250 or more and to obtain special appraisals or Forms 8283 for certain noncash donations, creating documentation trails in donors’ records; those donor acknowledgments are required to substantiate a deduction, but the IRS guidance and practitioner materials make clear the donor bears primary responsibility for keeping that documentation [5] [6] [7] [8].
5. Public filings may not reveal donor‑level restrictions or donor names
Practitioners’ guidance and IRS publications indicate nonprofits must account for restrictions and report restricted revenue, but the publicly available Form 990 is not designed to substitute for private gift agreements and donor acknowledgments; the sources reviewed do not provide public, donor‑level schedules that tie specific restricted gifts to particular events or exhibits at America250 [2] [1] [7].
6. Limits of available reporting and where to look next
The available sources establish that America250’s Form 990s are publicly accessible and that the IRS requires restricted gifts to be reported at the organizational level, yet they do not show public line‑item records connecting named restricted donations to specific events or exhibits; if granular proof of a particular restricted gift or exhibit designation is needed, the necessary documents would more likely be private donor acknowledgments, gift agreements, or unredacted organizational schedules that are not present in the sources provided here [1] [5] [8].